Ipad air or ipad mini w/ retina for a student?

[Cool]

The iPad Air would give you a bigger screen, it decreases the portability a little but bigger screen is better for taking notes as it becomes easier to press the accurate buttons to take notes faster. iPad Mini w/Retina display on the other hand provides smaller screen with more portability, you'll find it easier to carry around with you compared to the iPad Air.

iPad Air compared to iPad Mini w/Retina Display, take a look:
http://compare-e-readers.com/ipad-mini-vs-ipad-air

In both devices, you can simply attach a keyboard or even use a stylus for note taking purpose, the only difference is the screen size so IMO the iPad Mini w/Retina display would do the better job because of its portability.

Hope this helped!